A free Mudbelly Ceramics workshop for Black people to explore the therapeutic power of clay, led by artist Phoebe Collings-James.About this Event
Join us for a hands-on Mudbelly Ceramics workshop for Black people, led by artist Phoebe Collings-James and inspired by Spike Island exhibiting artist Beverly Buchanan's angels.
Buchanan frequently drew and constructed paper angels during her years in Athens, Georgia. Navigating chronic illness and disability, she turned to these figures both as a comforting ritual and as a way to forge connections with her community. Rather than keeping the angel drawings solely as private totems, Buchanan made prints of her original drawings into a proliferation of cut-outs and postcards, including her famous Hospital Gown Angel.
Reflecting on the series of angel works created by Buchanan, participants will explore themes of personal protection and spiritual resilience, using clay and hand building techniques to sculpt their own angels.
Please note: This workshop is exclusively for Black people.
The session is targeted at adults, however, Mudbelly and Spike Island aim to cultivate an environment of care and connection, so if you feel your child would particularly benefit from this environment or if you need to bring them with you in order to access this workshop, then you're welcome to do so.
Participants should wear clothes they don’t mind getting messy or bring an apron. All other materials are provided.
Workshop schedule:
- 12.30–1pm: Arrivals, independent exhibition viewing and settling in
- 1–3.30pm: Hands-on clay workshop with scheduled breaks
- 3.30–4pm: Soft close, inviting participants to chat and digest their experiences
About Mudbelly Ceramics
Mudbelly Ceramics is a free ceramics school and research space for Black people in London, led by Black ceramicists and artists. Originally founded in 2019 as a research outlet for artist Phoebe Collings-James' pottery practice, Mudbelly has since grown into a dynamic extension of the artist's sculptural work.
Mudbelly is an educational space rooted in Black queer feminist values, seeking an intimate, reciprocal approach to learning. They are excited by the holistic potential of ceramics, recognizing the therapeutic and spiritual benefits of working with clay.
www.mudbellyceramics.com
Phoebe Collings-James
Phoebe Collings-James (b.1987 London, UK) is a London-based artist working mainly in ceramics and sound installations. Using sgraffito techniques, Collings-James’ sculptures contain a symbolic language distinctive to their practice. Using oxide colours, tin glazes and hand-carved roulettes that are rolled across the clay’s surface, they create repeat patterns and words across the surface of the artworks. Within their work, they treat clay as a form of language referencing cuneiform clay tablets of Babylonian and Sumerian origin, through which Collings-James forms a direct link to the earliest known forms of communication, providing another route for thinking about linguistics. Through the material itself, along with the processes and modifications, Collings-James questions Eurocentric modes of knowledge building and epistemologies.
Recent solo exhibitions include a rose, a bridge, a house, Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, London, UK (2026); Nature Boy, Albuquerque Foundation, Sintra, PT (2026); The subtle rules the dense, KINDL, Berlin, DE (2025); At the end of the small hours, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels, BE (2025); In Practice, SculptureCenter, New York, US (2024); bun babylon; a heretics anthology, Arcadia Missa, London, UK (2023); A Scratch! A Scratch!, Camden Art Centre, London, UK (2021); Relative Strength, Arcadia Missa, London, UK (2018), Expensive Shit, 315 Gallery, New York, US (2017).
www.phoebecollingsjames.com
ACCESS INFORMATION
Our building is fully accessible, and we have accessible toilets on the ground and first floors. Please read our access guide here for further information: www.spikeisland.org.uk/plan-your-visit/access-guide
If you have any questions or would like any further information about what to expect, please call Spike Island reception on 0117 929 2266 or email us at [email protected].
IMAGE CREDITS
Beverly Buchanan: Weathering (2025). Installation view at Haus am Waldsee. Photography by Julian Blum
Event venue
Spike Island Artspace Ltd, 133 Cumberland Road, Bristol, United Kingdom
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.